Tap Tempo
Tap along to a song to find its BPM, with a note-length timing table
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Finds the tempo of a song in beats per minute from your taps. Use it to learn the tempo of a piece you are practising, or to set delay and LFO times to the beat of a track.
How to use
- Tap the big "Tap" button or any key in time with the music. The BPM appears from the second tap.
- Under "Average over", choose whether the last 4, 8 or 16 taps or all taps are averaged. Instant BPM, taps, deviation and mean interval are shown below.
- Press "Reset" or Esc to start again. A pause longer than the time under "Start over after a pause" also starts a new count.
- The "Note-length table" takes the measured BPM; type another value, pick a "Time signature" for the bar length, and press "Copy table".
How it works
- BPM = 60000 ÷ mean interval between taps in ms. The deviation is the standard deviation of those intervals; smaller means steadier tapping.
- A quarter note = 60000 ÷ BPM ms; a dotted note is 1.5 times as long, a triplet note 2/3 as long. Hz = 1000 ÷ ms, the rate of an LFO that cycles once per note.
- BPM counts quarter notes; a 6/8 bar is counted as six eighth notes. The last BPM and the settings stay in this browser. Sound plays only with "Click sound on each tap" on.
Questions and answers
- How many taps are needed for an accurate BPM?
- Eight or more give a stable average. If the first taps were off, keep tapping; the last 8 are averaged by default.
- How long is one beat at 120 BPM?
- 60000 ÷ 120 = 500 ms. An eighth note is 250 ms, a dotted eighth 375 ms and one bar of 4/4 is 2000 ms.
- How do I set a delay time to match the song?
- Enter the ms value of the note you want from the table. A dotted-eighth delay at 100 BPM, for example, is 450 ms.
- The result is half or double the real tempo.
- You tapped half notes or eighth notes instead of quarter notes. Tap again at the pulse you would tap your foot to.